A sampling apparatus for taking a sample of the products of drilling are known, and obtaining a representative sample is important in assessing the drilling products. Some earlier sampling apparatus has used a “cone splitter” comprising a cone over which a particulate load to be sampled is fed by gravity, so that the load is split evenly about the cone. One or more sampling ports spaced around the cone collect a nominally predetermined proportion of the material fed over the cone.
In one earlier sampling apparatus the cone and sampling ports are rotated, in order that a representative sample can be collected even if there is some bias in the feed of the sample onto the cone, and the collected sample is funneled through the sampling apparatus to a collection area. The remainder of the material feed, which is not collected by the sampling ports may be discarded.
It is believed that there is scope for an improved, or at least alternative, sampling apparatus.